Another question about the toddler/preschool activities

[sharonb]

I've been writing down activities/toys that are good for occupying toddlers/preschoolers during schooltime. A couple of questions:

1. Do your older (schoolage) children get "jealous" of the activities that their younger siblings are getting to do? It doesn't matter how "babyish" an activity is, it still looks like fun to the child who isn't looking forward to doing their phonics lesson!

2. My 3 year old and 5 year old fight with each other a lot. The 5 year old does a small amount of school with me, and then he is supposed to play or draw. Lately he acts like he's bored. I think he is tired of picking out something to play with and then having the 3 year old try to take it from him. Any ideas on how to handle this?

3. No matter what I try with my 16 month old, she still wants to climb on top of the table where her older siblings are working. She gets in their way, scribbles on their workbooks, etc. The playpen wasn't working anymore. She was SCREAMING instead of playing (she used to do okay in there for short periods of time). I literally could not teach because she was so loud. Instead, I moved a coffee table into the schoolroom and put a small chair there for her to sit in. She still wants to climb up on the table. Any ideas on how to deal with this? She's starting to cut back on the morning nap some, so I think we are going to have to learn to do our schoolwork with her around!

Anyway, that's a few of the issues I'm dealing with right now. School IS getting done, but not without some stress here and there! BTW, we have been doing a really good job of keeping the TV off during the day, so I really don't want to add a DVD to our routine to occupy the youngers. Once the TV is turned on, it's REALLY hard to turn it back off!

[jenntracy]

My 2 yr old is just like your 16 month old and has been since that same age. i think she climbed before she walked. i think i finally have my almost 5yr old trained to play with her. It seemed she would never play with anything i gave her, even if it was her own crayons and paper etc. sometimes the alost 5yr old is oblivious to what is going on.
It was she that needed the training and the 2 girls are getting used to it. my son (6), who is in Little Hearts for His Glory, and I go in his room and shut the door to do some of his lessons.... history, storytime, ryhyme time, emerger reader , Bible study. this week has been great.It usually takes no more than an hour for all of that. . i am so happy we are finally getting a routine that works.
We start around 9am. if Mommy doesn't start on time then things get "hairy".
Hope some of that helps.
Jenn D.

[juliekay]

My 8 year old still wants to join me no matter what I am doing with the younger two. Picture books and hands on activities are just fun! I just let him join in. Make sure you "bigger" little ones have those hands on fun times too.
Honestly, it's hard having to get done what must get done with those little blessings all around us! Trust me - even the best plan that works for somebody else may not work for you. However, here are some ideas that have worked here.

1. We also have a "school area" I keep a big tote box of little people stuff along with a board book basket in this area. The little ones start out here with us while I do the read-aloud history, story time and Bible time. WHEN they get too noisy or start climbing on furniture or other kids or start throwing toys they loose their privilege to be with us. Then I must stop reading and take them to their room. Oh, they hate it & cry, but they get the point.

2.I try to keep them moving on to different activities like the older children.

a. DVD – 30 minutes usually while I am working with the older 3

b.Tent making, hide and seek stuffed animals, make a big masking tape track (or use your masking tape letter from
LHTH – as a race track for matchbox cars. Start them on this fun and then quick run back to the kitchen to get your
older ones onto their history project!

c.LHTH (I will do a box or two here and there throughout the day)

d. Little table in the kitchen for snacks, play dough, messy activities while I work with my 8 y.o. in the kitchen area as
well.

e.I have different toys for my little ones that stay in different rooms of the house: Duplex – library; blocks – living
room; little people – school room; play dough & play dishes – kitchen.

3. This one is my favorite. I have hired a “helper” that comes in 2 mornings a week (9-12). She takes care of the little guys while I “school” with the older ones. She also keep my laundry going. She will take them outside to play, do messing crafts, play games. Things that I would LOVE to do, but just can’t do while doing “school”! We simply budget her into our “school budget”.

[sharonb]

I think I like the idea of spreading the toys out a bit. Right now we keep all of the toys in the playroom (which is also our schoolroom). All 6 of us are crowded into that small room for a few hours each day. We used to do some of our schoolwork in the kitchen, and would do read-alouds in the living room. (This was mainly when I was pregnant and right after my youngest was born since I was nursing her a lot). I do like having a schoolroom, where all my TM's are within easy reach and the youngers can play while I keep an eye on them. BUT, I think that we could benefit from doing some of our schoolwork at the kitchen table again. That way I can put my youngest in her highchair with an activity or a snack and she'll be contained! But if she's down for a nap we have to be in the playroom/schoolroom, because the kitchen is right next to her room and the wall is very thin.

Those of you who rotate to different areas of your house for different subjects, are you constantly walking back and forth to get certain books and other supplies? Our playroom/schoolroom is at the end of our house, not in a central location at all. We used to keep our school stuff on a bookcase in the kitchen, but dh didn't like how messy it looked.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions; I will keep pondering them and try to figure out how to make things go smoother around here!

[my3sons]

Those little ones are so full of energy, aren't they?!? I really love all of the tips for them at these links, hopefully something here should help:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=198&p=33557
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4987&p=36744#p36744

My best advice for the toddler is to put them on a schedule just like we do for our olders. For example, my almost 3 yo has this schedule:
breakfast, 30-40 minute video, play with oldest brother (30-40 minutes), play with middle brother (30-40 minutes), have snack and juice at kitchen table (15 minutes), do LHTH half-speed with me (15-20 minutes), play out (15 minutes), watch 30 minute video with middle ds, play out on main floor until lunch

I know you have a littler one than mine, but when we had one your age, he had saucer time with a short video, playpen time (which we struggled through making work), snack/juice time in high chair, etc. We don't do TV either, but videos can be educational, don't have commercials, we have total control over choosing them, they have a definite time they'll play, and they have a definite end. You can pick up good used ones from rummage sales or secondhand stores and build an inexpensive library of them in no time. There are some good ideas on the above links I gave for littler ones, but having a general schedule for them that changes activities every 20-30 minutes goes a long way to keeping them entertained and keeping us sane.

Those of you who rotate to different areas of your house for different subjects, are you constantly walking back and forth to get certain books and other supplies? Our playroom/schoolroom is at the end of our house, not in a central location at all. We used to keep our school stuff on a bookcase in the kitchen, but dh didn't like how messy it looked.

Here's a great link to a past post about organizing homeschooling so it's not such an eyesore and so it can be mobile:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2134&p=16388

I just set the tubs out on our kitchen counter, as this is about the center of our main floor, and they get what they need form there. I also put a Pampered Chef Tool Turn About (pictured in the link below) on each work area:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4148&p=30461

For us, having the dc spread out is a complete necessity! They are just too distracted otherwise, and the noise level with toddler right there in the mix is way too loud! I hope some ideas can help here, but I'd encourage you to try spreading your schooling out throughout the main floor of the house, as it is much easier to keep the distractions and noise level to a minimum.

In Christ,
Julie

[sharonb]

Thanks for all those links Julie! I'm spending some time this weekend reading up on ideas and getting organized for next week!